Government

Only a small percentage of older Americans, seven percent, receive income from Social Security, a defined benefit pension, and a defined contribution account. Retirement income from these three sources is widely considered to be the ideal situation to ensure retirement security, particularly for the middle class. Retirees with these three sources of income are far less likely to face poverty and economic hardship.

Knowing that the census guides how much money a community gets from the government is the most important reason for people to respond to the census, according to results from a 2018 Census Bureau survey.

As promotional and outreach activities are ramping up across the nation ahead of the 2020 Census — from establishing local and state complete count committees, to diverse partners coming together to reduce the undercount of children and other hard to count populations — tthe U.S. Census Bureau announced its long-planned communications campaign platform: “Shape your future. START HERE.”

The U.S. Census Bureau released results from the 2020 Census Barriers, Attitudes and Motivators Study (CBAMS). The national survey and series of focus groups were designed to better understand the nation’s attitudes toward the 2020 Census, potential barriers that may inhibit participation, and possible motivators of responding.

Once every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau undertakes a gargantuan task, one that the founding fathers of the United States considered so important they mandated it as part of the Constitution. The decennial census exists to compile an accurate count of every person living in the U.S. and to record basic demographic data such as age, sex, and race. Its primary purpose is to serve as an underpinning for the country's representative democracy, making sure each community gets the right number of representatives in Congress and that public funds are equitably distributed.  By Michael J. McDermott

Recruiting enough workers to fill the hundreds of thousands of temporary positions needed to take the 2020 Census won’t be easy, given the current economic climate, but the Census Bureau is more than up to the challenge.